Kelvin Gastelum vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov has been cancelled. UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2 on September 16 is now without one of the most enticing fights on the card.
Gastelum released a statement on his YouTube channel on August 1, revealing that an injury he suffered as a result of a spinning elbow has forced his withdrawal from the fight:
"My fight with Shavkat Rakhmonov is off... I received an elbow that resulted in [an] open fracture, and it was a big gash, this size," Gastelum gestured with his fingers. "A few bones that came out fractured and unfortunately I had to make the hard decision to withdraw from this fight against Shavkat Rakhmonov."
Gastelum displayed images of his gash, which was on the bridge of his nose:
In the footage, Gastelum's training partner threw a right high kick, which Gastelum ducked under. As Gastelum went to catch his partner in a body-lock, they span with the missed kick and launched a spinning elbow straight to Gastelum's nose.
Fortunately for Gastelum, the UFC does cover medical bills for injuries specifically sustained in training for fights. Unfortunately for Rakhmonov, it marks yet another UFC cancellation.
This cancellation marks the fifth total cancellation in 10 booked fights for "Nomad," here's hoping his luck improves soon.
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